1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a program, particularly to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a program, which can properly subject movie films to telecine conversion according to a reproduction form.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, a movie screened in a theater is continuous video signals of 24 frames per second taken on a film. In the case in which the movie is broadcast as a television broadcast program or sold as a video package, it is necessary to subject the movie to telecine conversion for electric signals for television broadcasting as video signals of 30 frames (60 fields) per second.
For a method of telecine conversion, a technique called 3-2 pulldown (or 2-3 pulldown) is widely used.
For example, 3-2 pulldown is a technique in which frames, so-called progressive pictures sampled at the same time instant, configure video signals of a film that is a material subjected to 3-2 pulldown (hereinafter, properly referred to as a 3-2 pulldown material), two fields are formed from each of odd-numbered pictures and three fields are formed from each of even-numbered frames, whereby the rate is converted from 24 pictures per second to 60 fields per second (see Patent Reference 1 (JP-A-2003-189260)).
In other words, as shown in FIG. 1, from odd-numbered pictures P1 and P3, two fields of a top field and a bottom field configuring the picture are formed (that is, fields F1-1 and F1-2, and fields F3-1 and F3-2), and from even-numbered pictures P2 and P4, three fields of a top field, a bottom field and a top field, or a top field, a bottom field and a bottom field configuring the picture are formed (that is, fields F2-1, F2-2 and F2-3, and fields F4-1, F4-2 and F4-3). More specifically, the rate is converted so that a field the same as that two fields before is repeated every five fields.